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11th Grade Diversity Lesson Plan

By Ariana Luna Erives

Book Title: We Are Not From Here

Author: Jenny Torres Sanchez

Publication Date: May 19, 2020

Publisher: Philomel Books

Subject: Social Studies

Culture: Hispanic
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Social Justice Standards:

 8. Students will respectfully express curiosity about the history and lived experiences of

others and will exchange ideas and beliefs in an open-minded way.

 12. Students will recognize unfairness on the individual level (e.g., biased speech) and

injustice at the institutional or systemic level (e.g., discrimination).

Nevada Academic Standard:

 Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical

Subjects 6–12: 2.a. Introduce a topic and organize complex ideas, concepts, and

information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified

whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia

when useful to aiding comprehension.

 College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading: #1 Read closely to

determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite

specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the

text.

Objectives:

 Students will be able to compare the events in the story to the experiences of illegal

immigrants coming to the United States as well as their opinions about immigration

before and after reading the book through group fishbowl discussion with 90% accuracy.

 The student will be able to explain the process of receiving residency status or citizenship

in the United States and why people feel they have no other choice but come to the

country illegally through individual research and writing with 90% accuracy.
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Materials:

 Copies of We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez

 Audio recording of the book

 Writing utensil

 Lined paper

 Laptop/Tablet

Procedures:

1. Introduce: Introduce We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez to the class.

Explain that the book is about immigration and that there will be a fishbowl discussion as

well as an essay once the class has finished reading the book. Pass out a book to each

student. Assign them to write a short paragraph about their views of immigration before

reading the book.

2. Read or Listen: Play an audio version of the book for students to follow along and read

in class. Play one chapter per class period at the beginning of the class. It should not take

more than 30 minutes of class time. Also, assign to read one chapter at home at the end of

every class period until they reach the end.

3. Discuss (Fishbowl Conversation): The class period after the students have finished

reading the book, arrange students in a fishbowl pattern. Place student chairs into a big

circle with a small circle of five chairs in the middle. 4 students will volunteer to be the

first ones to speak in the discussion and sit in a chair. One chair is empty so a student

sitting in the outer circle can take a spot. Once a person from the outer circle joins, one of
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the other four must give up their seat. They will answer and discuss the following

questions:

 Has your perspective of immigration changed after reading the book? If so, in

what ways?

 How did the book make you feel?

 What would you have done if you were in Pulga, Chico, or Pequeña’s shoes?

Would you take the risk of immigrating to a different country as they did?

 How does the book relate to real events happening in our country today?

 Do you think the government should do more to help immigrants? If so, what

would you suggest they do?

 Is there anything else you want to know about this subject?

4. Activities:

 Fishbowl: This is one of the activities that students will participate in. Students

will take turns answering the questions above and having a respectful discussion.

They may have notes with them from their reading. Pass out the written work

students did on introduction day, so they may look back at it if they need to for

their discussion.

 Essay: Once the discussion is over, students will write an essay. The prompt for

the essay is “Research and summarize the process to receive residency and

citizenship in the United States and explain why many people decide to migrate

from their country illegally.”

5. Assessment:
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 For the first activity, students will be assessed on participation and clear, well-

thought-out answers. They must show that they understand how the book relates

to real issues in the United States and reflect on their thoughts before reading.

 The essay will be graded using 4 categories: Thesis, organization, support, and

development of ideas, and grammar.